Steelhorse, thanks for the lead on the plater. And good to hear the 116 can handle your house heating needs. Are you going to put in a coal bin, or work from bags ?

Yes, the 118 will "roar", but I like that it can also be made to purr. When I was looking for a parlor stove, I wanted a stove with a range of heat output that had extra capacity. As wsherrick said, "you will appreciate that heating capacity when it's below zero." Yes, I will !!!!!

I have a 4000 square foot, 17 room Victorian. The living room is centrally located with doors leading to three other rooms and a hallway to the front stairs. The back stairs come down to near one of those doorways in the dinning room. Hopefully, with the 118 near the junction of all those rooms ,it's overly large capacity will work out well. If it's too much, I can throttle it down and then, it's just that much longer before it will need re-filling.

Paul - I agree...throttling them down is the best part of working with coal! I'm reaching stable temps and holding them like I never had before with wood. I've been able to get mine down to a barrel temp of about 240-250° and a stack temp of 100° (while in in-direct draft) and hold steady at that temp pretty much choking the primaries and closing the secondary completely. These things are amazing when used in conjunction with a manual and barometric damper.

I already built a bin - I threw it together quickly and didn't put too much thought into it other than it being a 4x8x4 box with an angled lid on a hinge. I have to shovel out the coal from the top (not optimal, i know) but I'll make a chute or other feed door for next year. The bin holds just over 3 ton loose and it's positioned right outside my garage for easy access. I was lucky enough to have the only coal dealer in my area that deals in bulk approx 10 minutes down the road from me in the next town over, so I just used my father-in-law's one-ton dump to transport the coal. That was I was able to get it for $10/ton cheaper than bagged, bulk @ $260/ton.